Shabiha

Shabiha are groups of armed militia that support the Syrian Arab Republic in cracking down on dissent during the Syrian Civil War.

History
Shabiha means "apparitions" in Arabic, and they were created in the 1980s as a tool for cracking down on dissent against the rule of President Hafez al-Assad of the Syrian Arab Republic. During the protests in Syria in 2011, President Bashar al-Assad called upon the shabiha to beat down on the protesters to disperse their crowds. When the Syrian Civil War began on 15 March, the Shabiha began to take up arms and fight against the Free Syrian Army and their Al-Qaeda allies. Their leaders Zaino Berri and Mohammed al-Assad were executed brutally in revenge for the pain that they caused the civilians of Syria.